Taliban gun down Pak provincial minister's son

The son of a provincial minister was gunned down by militants at Nowshera in northwestern Pakistan on Saturday, the police said.

Mian Rashid Hussain, the son of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa's Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain, was attacked by the militants while he was out for a walk in Pabbi, the main city in Nowshera district. He was killed instantly.

Rashid Hussain's friend, who was seriously injured, was taken to a hospital in Peshawar.

The attackers fled from the scene. The police surrounded the area and launched a search for the killers.

Information Minister Hussain, who is a vocal critic of the Taliban, had received several threats from militants.

The minister had often spoken out against the Taliban and their attacks on innocent people.

Senior leaders of the Awami National Party, which rules Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, condemned the attack.

ANP parliamentarian Haji Muhammad Adeel described the killing as an "open act of terrorism".

He pledged that the party would carry on its campaign against terrorism despite such attacks.

Provincial senior Minister Bashir Bilour said ANP leaders and their families were still receiving threats from militants.

Shortly before the attack on the minister's son, Interior Minister Rehman Malik told a news conference in Karachi that there were reports that militants could target senior political figures and their relatives.